Stoke bus stops cost almost £37,000 each

Stoke bus stops cost almost £37,000 each

December 01, 2008 2:44 PM

The Sentinel paper in Staffordshire has reported today that no less than £147,000 has been spent on just four ‘luxury modern bus stops’ for Burslem in Stoke in a move to regenerate the area with central Government funding.

The bus stops, which were unveiled at the Christmas lights switch-on this Saturday, will have LCD screens and CCTV but won’t be fully functional until the summer.

More of these bus stops are expected to be rolled-out across the city at a cost of nearly £37,000-a-piece, but local bus users are critical of the expense.

Jim Piper, 73 commented:“The council told me there would be new luxury bus stops but there was nothing wrong with the old ones. They just needed seats and everyone would have been happy”.

The LCD screens will give expected arrival times for buses and information on delays, though these services won’t be available until the technology is available for all buses so it looks like there’s more expense to come.

Of course, it’s all very well knowing that a bus has been delayed but if you are reliant upon these services there’s really not a lot of benefit in it. Surely bus users should have been asked what they wanted before calling on taxpayers’ to foot the bill for these costly and elaborate shelters?

At a time of financial crisis and in an area in need of regeneration there must be more worthwhile ways to spend this cash? Once this scheme has been extended throughout Stoke it’s not unreasonable to suggest it might have cost upwards of £1million. And for what? This isn’t an improved public transport system – this is superficial window dressing, and with record levels of government borrowing and ensuing recession it’s questionable schemes like this that should be halted to give ordinary taxpayers the break they deserve.

The Sentinel paper in Staffordshire has reported today that no less than £147,000 has been spent on just four ‘luxury modern bus stops’ for Burslem in Stoke in a move to regenerate the area with central Government funding.

The bus stops, which were unveiled at the Christmas lights switch-on this Saturday, will have LCD screens and CCTV but won’t be fully functional until the summer.

More of these bus stops are expected to be rolled-out across the city at a cost of nearly £37,000-a-piece, but local bus users are critical of the expense.

Jim Piper, 73 commented:“The council told me there would be new luxury bus stops but there was nothing wrong with the old ones. They just needed seats and everyone would have been happy”.

The LCD screens will give expected arrival times for buses and information on delays, though these services won’t be available until the technology is available for all buses so it looks like there’s more expense to come.

Of course, it’s all very well knowing that a bus has been delayed but if you are reliant upon these services there’s really not a lot of benefit in it. Surely bus users should have been asked what they wanted before calling on taxpayers’ to foot the bill for these costly and elaborate shelters?

At a time of financial crisis and in an area in need of regeneration there must be more worthwhile ways to spend this cash? Once this scheme has been extended throughout Stoke it’s not unreasonable to suggest it might have cost upwards of £1million. And for what? This isn’t an improved public transport system – this is superficial window dressing, and with record levels of government borrowing and ensuing recession it’s questionable schemes like this that should be halted to give ordinary taxpayers the break they deserve.

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